When Yankees third baseman Scott Brosius left his parent’s home in Oregon on Sept. 2nd, he knew he was saying good-bye to his father for the last time.

Maury Brosius had courageously battled cancer for more than a year and one-half but the fight would soon be over.

“We had some discussions when he first was diagnosed with cancer, I remember him coming out to New York when he was able to fly out and we just spend hours each night just talking about things,” Brosius told The Post recently in an exclusive interview in the visitor’s clubhouse in The Ballpark in Arlington.

“And one of the things that he said that really stuck out is, ‘I spent my whole life trying to do things to move up, get a better job, make more money, try to achieve, when you’re faced with something that’s life and death, you know what? Those aren’t the things I think about at all. The things that I think about are relationships.'”

The relationship between Maury and Scott Brosius grew stronger and closer over that last year and a half. Brosius, the MVP of last year’s World Series, left the Yankees on August 28 to be with his father. Maury could no longer eat. His stomach had seized and he literally was starving to death. At least the excruciating pain had subsided.

Maury Brosius died on Sept 12th, when the Yankees were playing a game in Boston. Scott Brosius played that day. He went 0-for-3 and was picked off second. If you can’t understand that Scott Brosius was distracted that day than you should check for a pulse. Brosius was grieving, but he also was awed by the dignity his father had displayed in his final days.

“He peaked at his death,” said Brosius. “He just got better and better as things went farther along.”

“You know, I asked him that very question,” continued Brosius. “He died on a Sunday and that Friday night I in a conversation I had with him, I just said, ‘Dad, how do you deal with this, when you know that it’s getting close?’ He was so weak he could hardly talk. He just said, ‘I have peace.’ He told me Saturday morning, ‘Last night I had a conversation with God and I told him I’m ready to go home and he’s ready for me.’ It makes you fear death a whole lot less.”

Brosius has not dedicated these playoffs to his father’s memory, it would cheapen the invaluable bond that developed over the last 18 months. And he tries to avoid using his father’s grueling odyssey as the reason his numbers declined this season. After batting .300 with 19 home runs and 98 RBI in 1998, Brosius hit .247 with 17 homers and 71 RBIs this year.

“I still feel that I hit .250 instead of .300 because I got less hits,” said Brosius. “Plain and simple. Overall, certainly I’ve been more worn out this year. There’s been times when my head’s definitely been in two different places. There were times I knew wasn’t coming to the ballpark with the same focus, the same excitement about doing this because my thoughts were somewhere else.”

Of course, Maury Brosius will always be in his son’s thoughts. Scott acknowledged wishing he could have called his father when the Yanks clinched the AL East crown. And when the season ends, it will be difficult to return to Oregon and attend to his father’s personal belongings.

But Brosius said he feels blessed to have had this last year and a half with his father. Their many talks helped him put some closure on a painful ordeal.

“When somebody goes, no matter how much time you’ve had, you always want more time,” said Brosius. “That’s the first thing you want is more time. But the reality is we’re all temporary and there’s going to be a time for each of us and the last year and one half, since we started this battle, we’ve lived a lifetime.”